


Mates and Hangovers

by szm



Series: Stars and Aliens [2]
Category: Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-21
Updated: 2012-03-21
Packaged: 2017-11-02 08:16:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/366907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/szm/pseuds/szm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The morning after Stars are Pretty</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mates and Hangovers

Ianto woke with a groan. He opened his eyes. This was his first mistake. The second was trying to lift his head. He lay back down and screwed his eyes closed against the bright, stabbing, vengeful, light of day. After ten minutes of lying very still with his eyes closed willing the nausea to go away he tried again. 

This time he managed to peer in the direction of the bedside table where there was a bottle of water. He pulled himself into a sitting position despite the vicious protest his head was making and picked up the bottle. There was a bright pink post-it note stuck to it with ‘drink me’ written in Jack familiar handwriting. Ianto managed a weak smile. But… he was fairly certain he didn’t go out with Jack last night. He’d left Jack at the Hub and met up with Mike. As with most nights out with Mike the ending was fuzzy to say the least. The difference being he wasn’t 19 anymore and his body was definitely reminding him of that fact. He was very glad Jack had told him not to come into work today, although he’d been annoyed at the implication at the time. Still if Jack was going to jump to conclusions… 

The doorbell rang. Ianto cursed all doorbell manufactures into the tenth generation. He stumbled out of bed, remembering to pull his dressing gown on and snatch up the water bottle, draining half of it on his way across the flat.

He opened the front door to reveal Mike grinning and holding out a bacon sandwich.

“Good morning, sunshine! I brought breakfast,” announced Mike cheerfully.

The smell of the bacon hit Ianto and he had to rush to his bathroom to be very sick. 

**

When he came back out into the lounge Mike was sitting on his sofa looking smug.

“Sorry mate,” he grinned.

“No you’re not you bastard,” said Ianto sitting next to him. Mike passed him the water bottle and Ianto took another long drink. “I thought you were back off to London today?”

“Anybody would think you were trying to get rid of me!” said Mike. “Trains been cancelled. Some kinda of terrorist attack at the train station…”

Ianto’s eyes shot open. “Terrorist attack?” he asked. Mike nodded. “I need to make a phone call.”

Ianto scrambled off the sofa to the phone in the hallway. He rang the Hub but got the answer machine, “Hi, you’ve reached Torchwood Cardiff. Please…” Ianto slammed the phone down. He was far too hung over to listen to Tosh’s message. The one that Ianto hadn’t been able to replace. He tried Jack’s mobile but was put straight through to voicemail.

“Ianto, are you okay?” asked Mike leaning in the doorway to the lounge.

Ianto a deep breath. If Jack needed him he’d call. After all it was possible that the ‘terrorist attack’ was actually a terrorist attack after all and Jack was no where near.

“I’m fine,” replied Ianto. “Just hung over and a little paranoid. I have a… friend and he might be at the train station.”

“Ah…” said Mike knowingly. “That would be Jack then.”

Ianto looked at Mike stunned. “I was not drunk enough to tell you about Jack.”

Mike just smirked. “Oh, my friend you _really_ were. Besides you rang him to come pick you up. At 2 in the morning.”

Ianto just groaned. 

“If looks could kill mate I’d have been dead on the floor. Jealous type?”

“Really not,” sighed Ianto.

Mike chuckled. “How about you stagger back to the sofa and I put the kettle on?”

Ianto headed in the vague direction of the sofa. “Don’t think it’ll suit you…” he mumbled

**

Jack couldn’t get back to Ianto’s until mid afternoon. The Nurgle that had gotten loose at the train station wasn’t really dangerous, and not much bigger than a small dog. But it was pregnant therefore it was nesting. Nesting Nurgle’s were worse than magpies for stealing shiny things, and they were so quick. Gwen was taking it back to the Hub. Jack was going to work on UNIT tomorrow, see if he couldn’t get them to take it in. Nurgle’s tended to have 30-40 babies at a time. Hopefully UNIT didn’t know that.

He used his key to let himself into the flat. Ianto was asleep on the sofa. Jack couldn’t help but smile. The duvet Ianto had over him had nearly slipped to the floor. Jack picked it up and tucked it back round Ianto.

“Th’nks Jak,” mumbled Ianto.

“You awake?” asked Jack.

“Nope, sleeping,” replied Ianto. “Coffee in the kitchen.”

Jack chuckled and kissed Ianto on the forehead. He headed back towards the kitchen and the smell of freshly brewed coffee. As he stepped through the door he caught sight of Mike.

“Hi! Its Jack right? Coffee?”

“Does Ianto know you’re using his coffee maker?” asked Jack. Voicing the first thought that entered his head. Ianto had threatened him in various and creative ways if he so much as thought about touching it.

“Oh please,” scoffed Mike. “Who do you think taught him how to make coffee in the first place?”

“I thought you were going to London,” said Jack pointedly ignoring the offered mug.

“Not jealous at all,” mumbled Mike. “My train got cancelled,” he said at normal volume. “Ianto said I could crash here tonight and I’ll get the first train tomorrow.” 

“Right,” said Jack, taking the coffee.

“No I promise,” Mike assured him with a very unnerving smirk. “The very first train.”

**

Jack had to wonder if this is how Ianto felt when John turned up. Ianto was feeling a lot better now and while Jack had been relegated to the chair Ianto and Mike were on the sofa trading ‘Do you remember when…’ stories that Jack couldn’t follow because they always ended up in peals of laughter before the end of the story.

Jack didn’t like it. 

He was saved by Mike’s phone ringing.

“The Way I Are?” asked Ianto raising his eyebrow at Mike’s ring tone choice.

Mike just grinned. “Gotta take this, it’s a client, sorry.” He darted into the kitchen.

“What does he do?” asked Jack as the door closed between the lounge and the kitchen. 

“Sort of a freelance researcher. He works for journalists mostly. He’s got a private investigators licence too but… Jack, what are you doing?” 

“Shh,” said Jack fiddling with his wrist strap. “I’m trying to eavesdrop.”

Suddenly there was a crackle and Mike’s voice could be heard through the tiny speaker set into Jack’s wristband.

“No, today’s trains were all cancelled. I guess there was a lot of damage.”

“Jack!” hissed Ianto. “Stop it.”

“I don’t trust him,” said Jack stubbornly.

“He’s just Mike,” protested Ianto. “He’s _normal_. He’s not any kind of threat and he doesn’t know anything about…”

“I know,” Mike sounded agitated now. “But Torchwood just turned up and closed the whole station down, what was I supposed to do? The Nurgle woke up much earlier than I expected… Yes, yes, I know… I’m staying with an old friend. Ianto Jones… What? Ianto!

Ianto stared at Jack’s wrist band, mouth open in shock.

“I knew it!” said Jack triumphantly turning towards the kitchen.

“Jack wait,” called Ianto as Jack threw the door open. There was a strange double effect as Mike’s voice seemed to be coming from two places at once.

“Nah, Ianto was my flatmate when I used to live in London. He would know an alien if he tripped over… What the hell!” Mike looked at Jack with shock.

“What do you know about Torchwood?” demanded Jack as he strode into the room.

“What?” said Mike looking confused. He glanced at the wrist strap. “You were listening to me?”

Jack didn’t look in the least bit embarrassed but he did turn the speaker off.

The person on the other end of the phone attracted Mike’s attention. “No, it’s just Ianto’s boyfriend, Jack… No don’t be daft; he can’t be… oh god.” Mike looked back at Jack. “Tell me you’re not Jack _Harkness_.”

“ **Captain** Harkness,” replied Jack stonily. “You didn’t answer my question,”

“Hang on,” said Mike holding up his hand. Ianto winced at Jack’s expression. “Yep, I’ll tell him…” Mike handed the phone to Jack. “She wants to speak to you.”

Jack snatched the phone from Mike. “Who the hell is this?” he snarled into the receiver. He looked furious then almost comically shocked. “Sarah-Jane Smith? What? Well of course I haven’t shot it… We trapped it… Well, _I assumed_ it came through the rift…”

Mike caught Ianto’s eye and nodded towards the door to the lounge. He and Ianto escaped, leaving Jack to his phone call.

“Torchwood?!” asked Mike as soon as the door was closed. “Since when?”

Ianto just stared at his friend in disbelief. “Since… since ages. Since before I met Lisa. Actually that was where I met her.”

“Hang on,” said Mike pinching the bridge of his nose. “ _Lisa_ was in Torchwood? You both…” Mike looked up at Ianto with dawning horror. “You were both at Canary Wharf. Lisa’s illness…”

“Yes, and I’m not talking about it now,” replied Ianto simply.

“God, Ianto. I’m so sorry…”

“What about you? Since when were you… an alien delivery man?” asked Ianto.

“It’s just a favour for a friend. Sarah-Jane’s cool, you’d like her actually. I’ve always known about aliens “

Ianto narrowed his eyes. Mike was looking shifty, that never boded well. “How?” asked Ianto.

“Because I sort of am one, a bit,” admitted Mike.

“A bit?” repeated Ianto incredulously.

“My mum is Archciran. She was visiting earth on a sort of holiday and got stranded. So she… blended in, married my Dad,” explained Mike. “Look, don’t tell your boyfriend, okay?”

“Stop calling him my boyfriend in that tone, and why not?” asked Ianto.

“Because,” said Mike as if it was obvious. “He’s Torchwood and I don’t trust Torchwood. I don’t want to be locked up.

“I’m Torchwood too,” Ianto reminded him.

“You were Ianto first; I refuse to believe I can’t trust one of my oldest friends, okay?”

“Right,” said Ianto. “You’re an alien.”

Mike smirked. “And you’re Torchwood. Right.”

Jack came back into the lounge looking a little bit sheepish. Ianto decided that he really had to meet Sarah-Jane Smith properly one day. "Miss Smith is going to meet you at the station in London,” Jack said to Mike scowling all the while. “And I’ll pick up the Nurgle in the morning and give you a lift to the train station here."

“Wanna make sure I leave?” asked Mike taking his seat back on the sofa.

“Something like that,” replied Jack with an entirely false smile.

“Jealous,” mouthed Mike looking up at Ianto.

Ianto clipped Mike round the back of his head and sat next to him on the sofa.

“Ow! What was that for?” complained Mike as Jack smiled to himself.

“That was for saying I wouldn’t recognise an alien if I tripped over one,” Ianto informed him.

“Ianto, Ianto, Ianto,” replied Mike swinging an arm round Ianto’s shoulders. “I lived with you for three years, you never noticed anything about anything.”

Ianto raised an eyebrow and was visibly trying not to laugh. “Oh yeah, who never noticed when I started working for the worlds premier counter alien agency?”

“Oh yeah,” scoffed Mike “Premier.”

Jack sighed and sat back down on the chair.

“Do you remember when…?”


End file.
